Life Before Cell Phones in the Foreign Service

     It's a common belief that US embassies abroad have always incorporated sophisticated electronic gear that can listen to a fly flap its wings or zoom in on the license plates of a vehicle parked on a street in Pakistan. Truth is, prior to the popular use of cell phones in the 1990s, Foreign Service personnel at embassies abroad communicated with each other by using two-way radios, often referred to as walkie-talkies, bricks, or hand-helds that sometimes weighed a few pounds.

     Unlike cell phones, two-way radios had limited range and only point-to-point communications were possible on single frequencies, which caused a lot of congestion. Generally, the farther a two-way could communicate, the heavier it was. Air time etiquette demanded that if someone was using the frequency or channel then you had to wait until they were finished.

     Around the world, and especially in third world countries where telephone systems were unreliable, the US embassies used two-way radio. It played an important role for Foreign Service employees and their families to communicate to the embassy and within the community. Life before cell phones was an era when times were slower and patience more refined; the two-way radio was often a lifesaver during times of political turmoil.

     The Office of Communications or OC was responsible for providing radio communications to members of the Foreign Service at the US Department of State's embassies abroad. The Escape & Evacuation (E&E) plan allowed for both two-way radio and high-frequency HF radio as a means for communicating within an embassy and long distances among embassies, respectfully. HF radio was used for long haul communications among several embassies and the RCO or Regional Communications Office within the embassies. For example, embassies at Addis Ababa, Mogadishu, Dar es Salaam, and Kampala would hold weekly tests with the RCO at the American Embassy at Nairobi. Almost exclusively, the Collins Radio Company's KWM-2 radio set was used because of its reliability and ease of repair (usually a change out of a vacuum tube or sometimes just a smack on the cover could fix it).

     Long before the Motorola DROID cell phone, the G.E. model PE-66 handheld two-way radio was more valuable than gold in places like Karachi, Dacca, Dar es Salaam, and Mogadishu. In third world countries the local telephone system failed regularly and the PE-66 played a vital security role in communications among the embassy and personnel's homes. Several radio nets were set up for admin, security, and the Marine Security Guard. Sometimes agencies such as USAID and Defense Attaché Office (DAO) had their own dedicated radio nets. Each Foreign Service officer had his or her own often humorous call sign. At one embassy the ambassador, a lady, was referred to as Snow White and members of her staff called Grumpy, Bashful, Doc, etc.

     Another function of OC was to provide radio communications during the US Secretary of State's visits to international cities. RCA had the exclusive contract to provide two-way radio equipment that could be air-shipped to any destination for immediate implementation by an OC technician who would set up an exclusive two-way radio net for the security agents who would man protective details to guard the Secretary.

     Two-way radios are still widely used today worldwide for utility purposes such as taxis, construction firms, police, and emergency. Their advantage over cell phones are that they are generally more rugged, cheaper, and communications are instant (a simple push-to-talk function).